Health literacy for 2,500 young people, starting in nursing school

In her third year of nursing school, Unique Okewoye completed a clinical posting at a psychiatric facility. "It was a turning point for me," she says. She met young people not much older than herself who were living with mental health conditions, and saw firsthand how mental health was often overlooked compared to physical health. "The disparity was striking."

She had not been sure what she was doing in nursing at all. At the time, she says, she was "a young woman still trying to figure out how I had ended up in nursing." One course changed that. "Mental health was the one course that felt different, it felt like a reason to be there," she says. Her lecturer made the subject come alive, and for the first time she found herself excited about a field within healthcare.

“The most sustainable solutions are built with young people, not just for young people”

Unique Okewoye

Later she spoke at a conference organized by the hospital. She won the speaking competition that day. Her subject was "how underprioritized mental health is, especially among young people." "Looking back, that was one of the first moments I publicly spoke about an issue I cared deeply about," she says.

Two years later she founded Health Impact for Youth, HI4Y, to help bridge health literacy gaps among young people, with a special focus on mental health. Three months ago, with support from two international organizations, HI4Y trained 50 secondary school students to become mental health advocates in their communities. "To date, we have reached over 2,500 young people through virtual engagements and community-based initiatives," she says.